Disclaimer: Do Not Own.

The Hospital Room

Sharpay glanced at the windowpane that was built into the door of the hospital room. Not much could be seen through the small space but any little movement seemed enough to catch her attention.

With a sigh, Sharpay slumped back into the rough fabric of the hospital room chair and fidgeted, trying to find a position comfortable enough to remain in. After a few minutes of noisy shuffling, she resigned herself to the fact that there was no way she would ever be comfortable. And maybe that was the intention. What gives her the right to be comfortable when her brother was lying beneath the crisp, starchy white sheets of the hospital bed, IV bags flowing fluids back into his system after having his stomach pumped by the paramedics?

Suddenly the hot sting of tears burned in Sharpay's eyes as the feeling of rage that she'd been so desperately fighting to smother flamed inside her chest. Her entire body tensed up as she performed the very same exercises she needed for the stage in order to smother this anger and replace it with remorse.

Except, why was she even trying? She has a right to be mad at Ryan! The bastard dropped her the second he went off to school and got himself into a right mess. And instead of coming to her for the help that he so obviously needed, he was cold to her; he just shut her out. It was like he resented her, as if she was the reason his life took this direction.

Sharpay rolled her eyes and crossed her arms defensively. The sequins on her tank top scratched at her skin and she wished that she had gone home to get a change of clothing. Everything had just happened so fast, she was not even sure quite how the sequence of events played out.

By the time she had stopped screaming somebody had moved Ryan's body off of hers, freeing her to kneel by her brother's side. Looking at his face, all she saw were his dead eyes. They stared up at the ceiling, wide in shock but completely unseeing.

She wished she knew who had been calm enough during the entire ordeal to call the ambulance, but she didn't. All she could remember were those dead eye's as they were hoisted onto the stretcher; the dead eye's staring at the roof of the ambulance truck; the dead eyes being wheeled away from her as they were rushed into the emergency room.

Sharpay glanced back at the small windowpane in the hospital room door as the tail of a lab coat fluttered out of site.

What the hell was Ryan thinking getting into drugs? The moron always did have trouble making his own decisions; some asshole obviously took advantage of him.

Sharpay shuttered as various images of coked out dealers cornering Ryan in a dark alleyway in New York City flooded her brain.

Sharpay closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to physically remove the thoughts from her brain. Just think nothing….nothing at all. She hummed a tuneless song softly to herself and focused all her attention on the darkness created by her closed eyelids.

"Sharpay, sit up straight. That is not a flattering pose for your body type." Sharpay started out of her meditation at the sound of her disapproving mother.

"Mother," she greeted coldly, refusing to shift positions if only to irritate the woman.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't make it in sooner, honey. Your father's work party was just so successful. The wait staff was positively raving about the elegance of it all. And, of course, I got here as quickly as I could once that was done and I'd cleaned myself up. So, how is he doing?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "Could be dead by now, for all you seem to care," she muttered, only half hoping that her mother could hear her.

But Mrs. Evans nodded distractedly and started digging through her purse, her phone ringing incessantly in the hushed room. After pulling out and dumping onto the same bed that her unconscious son was laying her overstuffed Louis Vuitton wallet, scads of make-up and a pile of paper-clipped receipts, she finally seemed to have located her phone. Pulling it out, Mrs. Evans glanced at the flashing screen and sighed dramatically, "I knew they wouldn't be able to clean up without my help. What is it Carlos?"

Waving at her daughter and flashing a toothy grin, Mrs. Evans started barking orders into the phone, describing where each individual piece of newly polished tableware belonged to Carlos as she backed out of the hospital room and left, never having actually spent any quality time with her son.


Troy walked swiftly through the hallways, his sneakers squeaking on the waxed, tile floor. His mind seemed to be racing, yet it kept returning to the same thought. 'I hope she isn't alone'.

Finding the hallway that he'd been searching for, Troy's heart skipped a beat as he slowed his pace, looking deliberately at each room number. He knew it was up ahead, but he suddenly felt as though he was walking through a marsh, his feet sinking into the floor making it difficult to move.

"Ugh…Troy…Slow down!" Gabriella huffed behind him. She had insisted on wearing her four inch heals, though she had yet to learn how to walk in them.

Troy ignored her, seeing as he had already slowed his pace to a crawl and shook her hand off of his arm. He hadn't been expecting her to come, but Gabriella was quick to remind him that she'd actually befriended Ryan first. Unable to argue with this logic, Troy had merely shrugged and unlocked the passenger side door. He wasn't really visiting Ryan anyways.

Taking a deep breath, Troy finally grasped the cold, medal doorknob and turned, pushing in and taking one step inside the room. His eyes instantly found Sharpay, leaning back in her chair, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes closed serenely. At the sound of his arrival, she jerked herself upright and wrenched her eyes open expectantly. It took her three blinks before she seemed to realize who was standing there, her face falling as her body settled back into the same position it had been in before he arrived.

"I thought you were my mother," she said quietly, closing her eyes once more, though Troy was almost certain there was a hint of a smile on her face.

"Oh," was all Troy could manage to say.

"Oh for heaven's sake, step inside the damn room Troy!"

Gabriella, fed up with standing behind Troy and waiting for him to clear the doorway, pushed him a few inches to the side so that she could squeeze her way through. Troy's irritation with her increased tenfold and it took him a three deep breaths to steady himself, effectively hiding his emotions once more.

Sharpay, on the other hand, did not even try to hide hers. Her eyes were opened and glaring at Gabriella, her arms still crossed, though her posture much more rigid.

"Gabriella," Sharpay breathed, monotone.

"Oh, chill, Sharpay. Troy and I are just here to visit your brother. You know, he was our friend in High School," Gabriella said, her tone challenging.

"Whatever," Sharpay replied coolly.

Troy's shoulders drooped. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this last exchange with Gabriella destroyed any chance he may have had with rekindling any sort of connection with Sharpay. He was really hoping he'd be able to at least find out how she was doing; he knew this wasn't easy for her.

Shifting his eyes away from Sharpay's angry glare, Troy instead focused on Ryan. He looked so small; so pale. Troy cursed himself for leaving the party, wishing that he had been there when the entire event took place. He wished he could do anything to ease Sharpay's burden.

But her icy mask had slipped into place the moment Gabriella stepped into the room and not even he would be able to break through it.

Stepping back, Troy wished he could blend into the wall. This was stupid. Pointless. Why hadn't he left sooner, before Gabriella noticed what he was doing? He watched, as if he were not a participant, as Gabriella spoke to Ryan's still form, melodramatically promising the world if Ryan would just wake up. He watched Sharpay's visage grow darker and angrier, her limbs folding tighter around her body as she glared at her former classmate.

Of course, it was merely minutes before Gabriella got bored with talking to an unresponsive body and excused herself from the room.

The subtle click of the door into its frame seemed to rouse Sharpay. Piercing Troy with her glare she finally spoke.

"What are you even doing here?"

Troy balked. "What am I doing here? Are you kidding me with this? I was concerned about you! I was…I just wanted to make sure you were alright!"

Sharpay scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I'm fine," she said forcefully. "You don't need to bother worrying yourself about me. In fact, I'm better than fine. I'm great."

"Great," Troy said darkly, angry with how this trip was turning out. "That's just great. I'm glad you're so great with how things turned out with us." Laughing bitterly, Troy crossed his arms and turned away, mostly to hide the emotions on his face that were only betraying him.

"When did this become a discussion about us? When was there ever even an us? I get that you're back with Gabriella, you don't need to keep shoving it in my face, you know."

"Gabriella and I are not back together," Troy said quietly, his tone eerily steady. "Besides, who are you to talk? You and Josh never even separated. Does he even know what we did when you visited me?...No…I bet he didn't even know you were with me."

Sharpay stared at Troy, her eyes hard and her mouth set. She looked like she wanted to respond, like it was taking every ounce of her little remaining strength to resist but Gabriella had just reappeared at the doorway and was now entering the room.

"Troy?" she whined. "I'm hungry. Can't we go now?"

Troy didn't shift his glare away from Sharpay's equally angry face as he responded, "Sure, Gabs. Let's go."

Without even bothering to hold the door for Gabriella, Troy turned and yanked the heavy metal door out of its frame and stalked out of the room. As the door shut slowly behind him he thought he heard somebody angrily say, "Great. Just go."


Sharpay flung herself back into her chair and sighed. She couldn't tell if she was still angry or overwhelmingly depressed. All she knew was that her chest felt constricted, as if an iron lung was encasing her own and squeezing the life out of them. Her breathing felt labored and her heart was racing. But at least the fight was over. She'd known it would happen eventually. Seemed inevitable, really. And it was probably better this way. At least now Sharpay would be sure that Troy wouldn't be able to hurt her like he did in High School. Like all those jerks did. No, it is definitely better to cut everybody out and start fresh.

Maybe it's time she gave Josh a call. She'd been rather cold to him lately. But if she were starting fresh, at least he is a new friend she can keep in her life. Whether that's a good thing or not is still to be decided.

"What was that all about?"

It took Sharpay a moment to realize that the voice was coming outside of her own head, her thoughts so consuming her, she'd blocked out the real world. Looking up she was shocked to see Chad Danforth standing just inside the hospital room doorway.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not meaning to sound quite as accusing as she did.

Chad didn't seem to notice the confrontational tenor in her voice. "Just wanted to stop by. Make sure you were both doing ok," he shrugged. "Of course, I thought that your brother would be the cause of all the upset, but it looks like Troy's stolen that role too."

"Wait a minute," Sharpay shook her head in confusion, trying to focus all her attention on the present. "I thought you and Troy were still friends."

Chad stepped over to the empty chair positioned next to Sharpay's in the room and sat down quietly. "We are! I mean, I love the dude…Like a brother…but sometimes his timing is absolutely horrendous."

Not fully understanding Chads point, but not wanting to explore the topic further, Sharpay nodded and turned her attention to her sleeping brother. She crossed her fingers that Chad would take the hint and leave their conversation well enough alone.

They sat in empty silence for a couple minutes, Sharpay lost in her thoughts once more as Chad tapped his leg uncomfortably and stared at the slowly ticking clock. However, unable to bear the uncomfortable silence any longer, Chad finally said, "So…You've been here all night, huh?"

Sharpay returned her gaze to the boy, her expression muted, a hint of a smile on her lips. "Of course," she replied, surprise in her tone.

Chad nodded.

"You know, Sharpay, I had you figured all wrong in high school."

"How do you mean?" Sharpay asked, only half paying attention to the conversation as she watched Ryan stir in his sleep, showing some sign of life for the first time all morning.

"I don't know. I guess I'd always thought of you as some spoiled, privileged rich kid who didn't care for anybody but herself and never had to."

Chad cringed, afraid he'd gone too far in poking the sleeping bear, as it were. But Sharpay neither recoiled, nor struck with any sort of fury. She simply snorted with short lived laughter and mumbled more to herself, "That is the furthest thing from the truth right now."

"How so?" Chad asked, truly curious.

Sharpay took a deep breath and contemplated lying. This was a secret she had intended to keep close, though she hadn't yet figured out how to accomplish such a thing. Maybe it was her current state of vulnerability, or maybe she just felt like she could trust Chad, but something in that short moment of contemplation convinced her to be straightforward. And so, she spoke in a quiet voice as she calmly recounted her parents announcement to the twins on Thanksgiving. Explaining how she had no place to live, no job and soon no family to lean on.

Chad contemplated the situation for a moment, his brows furrowed and his mind searching. "You need a job, huh? I might be able to help you with that."

Sharpay stared at him in surprise, "Help?...Me?" she stuttered.

Chad nodded solemnly, but said, "I've got to go now, though. I'll get back to you about that, see what I can do and all." He stood quickly, clearly uncomfortable with the affectionate direction this conversation had taken and shuffled quickly to the door. Grasping the handle, he opened the door and took one step through but paused before he had cleared the frame. Turning back, he glanced at Sharpay's surprised expression and took in the party clothes she was still dressed in. "Do you want me to bring you a change of clothes?"

Sharpay smiled and glanced at her own attire. "Thanks, but… I'm fine."

Chad nodded, turned and stepped into the hallway, allowing the slowly closing door to swallow his image and leave Sharpay in the ringing silence of the hospital room once more.


Hello all! So, I have some sad news: school starts soon… But that's actually good news for you because it means I'll have fewer reasons to not post a chapter on time!

So, I bought clothes online the other day and the company sent them to me twice. I'm having a major struggle with morality right now because, as a poor student, this is quite the gift from God….but it's also completely unethical for me to keep them…

Ah, what to do?

Anyway, that had absolutely nothing to do with my story. But, please leave me a comment! On anything you wish to comment about…